The Problem of Natural Evil

On December 26, 2004, the third most powerful earthquake ever recorded struck in the Indian Ocean, near the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The quake was so intense that it shifted the North Pole about one inch to the east and slightly increased the rotation of the Earth, thereby shortening the length of a standard day by 2.68 microseconds.[1] It also generated a tsunami that struck the surrounding coastlines, killing over 200,000 people and displacing nearly 2,000,000 more.[2]

This unfortunate incident is a prominent example of what is sometimes referred to as ‘natural evil’: a reference to human suffering caused by processes in nature—earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc. Few things are as terrifying as when our very environment seems to turn against us, and this has often raised the question of why God would place us in a world with such hazards. Why does he allow natural disasters to claim so many lives, especially those of innocent children? What purpose can there be in it?

The Good Earth

In considering this question, it’s necessary to understand that conditions on Earth are exceedingly mild compared to the conditions we observe on other planets. In fact, to our knowledge Earth is uniquely suited for life. Our planet is located in what is sometimes referred to as the Goldilocks Zone (so named because it’s “just right”) of a stable, mid-sequence star, in an ideal position relative to the other planets of an ideally-balanced solar system, and within an ideal location in an ideal type of galaxy. If we were much closer to or farther from our sun, weather conditions on Earth would make life much more difficult than it is today. If we orbited a star in a binary system, or we were closer to the giant planets of our solar system—such as Jupiter and Saturn—gravitational stresses on the Earth could produce earthquakes far more frequent and ferocious than we can presently imagine. If our atmosphere were thinner, cosmic radiation and surface temperatures could quickly and easily prove lethal to every living thing on the planet.

These and a host of additional factors we could list demonstrate that Earth is an exceedingly privileged little world. Harsh conditions are the norm throughout the universe; to our knowledge, Earth is the lone exception. For this reason, it’s a mistake to think that God has placed us in a harsh environment. On the contrary, we have every reason to believe that he has placed us on the best real estate in the universe.

Why natural disasters then, if Earth is such a wonderful world?

Earth is an active planet—it must be in order for life to exist here as comfortably as it does—and this continuous activity, while beneficial, occasionally builds to what we might call “pressure points,” which must be alleviated. Tornadoes and hurricanes are spawned by shifting weather patterns that are part of the overall planetary balance. Earthquakes are caused by shifts in the plate tectonics that make up the crust of the Earth. This shifting of the crust quite literally recycles the surface of the planet, creating an ideal environment for life.[3] Tsunamis are caused by massive, sudden upheavals that displace enormous amounts of seawater, such as happens when earthquakes occur at sea. The water flows outward and then back again as the ocean reacts to the disturbance and establishes a new equilibrium.

Disasters result when these events directly impact human communities, but forces and processes in nature do not “kill” in the sense that human beings kill. There is nothing deliberate or malevolent about them. They are not “evil.”

Still, might we not wonder why God allows these things to impact human populations? Has he deliberately left us in harm’s way?

There are a few things to keep in mind here.

To begin with, based on what scientists have learned about Earth’s past, it is evident that we live in a comparatively stable and mild time in our planet’s history (and in the history of the universe, for that matter). One can imagine how things might be different if human beings had to contend with major geological upheavals or populations of large predators, such as dinosaurs. Needless to say, under such conditions we would not have reached the level of civilization we have achieved.

Next, we should reflect that, according to the biblical record, humanity has departed from the purposes God originally ordained for it, and in losing direct access to its creator, has undoubtedly forfeited protections it might otherwise have enjoyed.

The book of Genesis illustrates this for us in detailing the care God took of Adam and Eve when they were created:

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted… – Genesis 2:8-10a (KJV)

While some believe and teach that the entire Earth was a paradise when Adam was first created, Genesis 2 actually suggests that paradise was restricted to the Garden of Eden, which God specially created to be a habitation for man. Eden was not the entire world, but only a particular region, and the garden was only a part of Eden. Note that Genesis 2:10 says that a river went “out of Eden, to water the garden.” This necessitates that the garden did not comprise the whole of Eden.

God did pronounce a curse on the “ground” when Adam sinned, but the nature of the curse was very specific:

Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread. Till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. – Genesis 3:17b-19

This is often taken to mean that God cursed the Earth to the effect that it should produce thorns and thistles, and that it did not produce these things prior to Adam’s fall, but this conclusion cannot be derived solely from the text. Note that, when God pronounced the curse, he followed it with: “in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” The Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Old Testament—renders Genesis 3:17 this way: “cursed is the earth in your labors.”[4] (NETS)

Remember that, in Genesis 2:8-10, we’re told that God caused “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” to grow in the garden. In other words, God prepared the ground of the garden to readily yield fruit-bearing plants and trees, although Adam still had a responsibility to tend it (Genesis 2:15).[5] After the fall, however, God cursed the ground that he had formerly blessed. The ground would no longer produce its fruit easily. Instead, it would readily produce nuisance plants. Adam would be reduced to hard labor in order to survive, and in the meantime would be forced to eat whatever was growing wild around him.

Thus the curse placed upon the ground here was not a general curse on all of the Earth or the universe, both of which, according to the teachings of some, are “fallen.” It was a specific curse on the ground, and was meant to render man’s labor more difficult.[6]

God also cursed man with death, as he originally warned he would do when he first instructed Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17). Note how this curse was implemented, according to Genesis 3:22-24:

Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So he drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden he stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

God implemented the curse of death upon Adam by depriving him of access to the Tree of Life. From this, it appears that Adam was not created to be naturally immortal. His life was dependent upon access to the Tree of Life, without which he ultimately died. It does not appear that God cursed Adam’s body in some way in order to ensure his death; he simply deprived him of what was necessary to sustain him indefinitely. To argue otherwise, one must read assumptions into the Genesis account, which seems quite straightforward when taken literally here.

I make these points in order to demonstrate that we do not live on a “bad” Earth that God changed from its initial state in order to cause us grief, but rather that we as a race have lost the place of particular favor that was once intended for us. There is no biblical reason to believe that God changed the Earth from its original “good” creation state, creating thorns and thistles only after Adam sinned. Remember again here that the Garden of Eden was a special place, even before Adam’s fall. Thorns and thistles were almost certainly a part of the environment outside of the garden, although the curse may have caused them to become even more virulent.[7]

Some argue that plant and animal death are also due to the fall of man, citing Romans 5:12, where the apostle Paul writes, “for by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,” but in this passage Paul specifically says that death “passed upon all men because all have sinned.” Man is the subject here, not all of nature. Furthermore, plant and animal death is actually beneficial to the planet as a whole, in spite of the emotional reaction people may have to it.[8] The assumption that it cannot have been part of God’s original plan for his “good” creation is just that: an assumption.

Forfeited Dominion

For one last point here, consider that, not only did God initially place Adam and Eve in an especially ideal environment, he intended that they should have “dominion” over the Earth:

And God blessed them [Adam and Eve], and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. – Genesis 1:28 (KJV)

The Genesis account fully leads me to believe that this planet was to be our “project.” God gave us a good world, but intended for us to make it even better, to learn how to use its resources and become its masters. Among other things, we might have learned better ways of anticipating violent storms and earthquakes, or better building techniques to withstand them, or possibly even ways of alleviating them. Adam’s experience in Eden might have prepared mankind to cultivate vast portions of the Earth’s surface, almost assuredly in ways that have not yet occurred to us, and in cooperation rather than competition. Mankind might now be dispersed across the Earth in an entirely different manner, one more conducive to living in harmony with our environment. Unquestionably, the plant and animal kingdoms would also have benefited from mankind’s enhanced understanding and stewardship of the globe. Perhaps even favored pets might have been granted increased longevity as a benefit derived from a better understanding of the nature of life.

How much might God have taught us about mastering our world, and even curing diseases and repairing genetic abnormalities, had our first parents not rebelled, thereby cutting us off from intimate fellowship with the creator of all things? As it stands, the world sometimes seems like a harsh place to us because we do not enjoy the position of supremacy that we were meant to have in relation to it. Man is trying to get by as best he can in a world that he does not fully comprehend and which he cannot fully master.

The Suffering of Innocents

Invariably, the problem of evil—in either its moral or natural forms—generates discussion concerning the suffering of innocents, children in particular. Even if we’re willing to concede that man has fallen from his intended place in relation to both God and the world, it seems unfair to us that children should also bear the burden. Why would God permit this?

This is a complex subject, but I will highlight a few areas that I believe are worthy of consideration:

First, as discussed previously, God has given human beings the freedom to make moral choices. In order for true love to exist, the choice to give it or withhold it must also exist. Thus, God has given us a framework within which both good and evil choices are possible, and children are as subject to this framework as adults. If it were not possible to act in an evil fashion toward children, it would also be impossible to truly love them and do good to them. The choice is ours, as is the responsibility for the choice in light of God’s promise to judge all mankind.

Furthermore, this matter of choice not only applies to decisions that we deliberately make—for instance, the choice to show kindness or malice in a given situation—but also to what we might consider “incidental” choices, in which children are affected more in terms of the natural consequences of our actions.

For instance, if we make poor health, financial, or lifestyle choices, our children are affected as much as we are. When parents divorce, their children have to live with the fallout, including the emotional pain. If mom or dad commits a crime and is sent to jail, the children are not exempted from the negative consequences that may result to the rest of the family, such as loss of income or loss of a home. If a man decides to get drunk and then go out and drive with his family in the car, and ends up plowing into a tree at ninety-miles-an-hour, his children will suffer right along with him through no fault of their own. Yes, God has provided the framework in which such choices are possible, but the responsibility is ours.
Similarly, if we choose to build homes or cities in earthquake, tornado, or hurricane country, or in the shadow of an active volcano, we really shouldn't be surprised when, sooner or later, disaster strikes. Our planet's natural processes are not going to stop in deference to our preferences. If we're going to live in such places, we need to come to terms with the risks. I do not say this to lay blame on those who suffer in natural calamities, but simply to stress that we must be willing to come to terms with reality. Still, some do suffer needlessly of their own account even in natural disasters. Consider for a moment those who refuse to evacuate coastal areas during hurricanes, or make any kind of disaster preparations when warnings go out. Should we really blame God for their fate?

Second, we should evaluate our attitude toward God. Do we really seek him? Do we really care what he thinks or what his will for our lives might be? Are we willing to lay aside our own plans and submit to his will? Are we teaching our children to seek God? What sort of example are we setting for them?

The sad fact of the matter is that humanity is pretty well going about its business as if God doesn’t exist, and God has allowed us to experience the natural consequences that result from this approach to life. “You will search for me and find me,” he has said, “when you search for me with all of your heart.” But for the most part, we have chosen to give our hearts to other things, such as the pursuit of material wealth and pleasure. What right do we have to live as if there is no God, and then immediately expect him to bail us out of whatever trouble we find ourselves in? What right do we have to expect him to show up and explain himself in times of crisis when we don’t care to hear what he has to say in the meantime?

Even many of our religious practices are more about rituals, feelings, cults of personality, self-righteousness, and social obligations than about knowing God and giving him preeminence in our lives. We often honor him with our lips when our hearts are far from him, and God cares nothing for this empty form of acknowledgment. What he values is a heart that truly seeks him.[9]

Our children have been given to us. They are our responsibility. And we have effectively immersed them in a godless world by the choice to pursue other things. The negative consequences of this are no different than in any other area of life and experience. In great part, we have chosen to live without God, and he has allowed us to do so. The result has been tragic.

On the other hand, God has often shown mercy to those who are truly seeking him, and per the biblical account, has delivered them from potential tragedy.

In the book of Genesis, God warned Pharaoh in a dream that years of famine were coming to Egypt, and he provided Joseph to interpret that dream and to devise a plan to bring Egypt safely through the crisis (Genesis, chapter 41). He delivered a prostitute named Rahab from the destruction of Jericho in return for the kindness she showed to two Israelite spies (Joshua, chapters 2 and 6). He delivered three Hebrew teenagers from death in a Babylonian furnace, and later the prophet Daniel from death by lions (see Daniel, chapters 3 and 6). He warned Mary and Joseph that King Herod would try to kill the infant Jesus, and told them to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). He delivered the apostle Peter from prison and almost certain death in response to the prayers of believers (Acts, chapter 12).

Nor is that “all in the past.” God continues to watch over his people today. He does not always intervene in their circumstances, just as he did not always intervene even in biblical times, but there are noted instances where he has done this.

I remember hearing the story of a missionary whose life was spared when villagers who had been sent to kill him in the night retreated without even confronting him. Later, after one of them was converted, he explained to the missionary that he and those with him had seen large men standing outside of the missionary’s home with drawn weapons, and this is why they had left him alone that night. The missionary should have seen these men, but he saw no one.[10]

A few years ago, I came across the testimony of a Christian who was cleaning out his garage one day, and was about to pick something up when he distinctly heard a voice telling him not to touch it. He went and got a broom to move the object and discovered Black Widow spiders nesting underneath of it.

And for one last example, I will provide a personal testimony.

My oldest son, James—now seventeen years old—is severely autistic and non-verbal. A number of years ago, when he was perhaps nine or ten years old, my wife left to visit relatives while I stayed home to care for James. I became very ill one night while she was gone, and fell into a deep sleep. Unbeknownst to me, my son got up out of bed and got in the bathtub and started playing. Like many autistic children, he loves playing in water, and this is usually harmless as long as it’s supervised. But at the time, I had no idea what was going on; I was dead asleep and had a loud box fan running.

How long he was in there, I don’t know, but I was woken from sleep by a man’s voice calling my name and telling me I needed to wake up—there was no one else in the house at the time, and no radio or TV playing. I woke immediately and heard my son in the bathtub of our master bathroom, jumping up and down with the shower turned on. He could easily have slipped and hit his head on the side of the tub or on one of the faucets, and as sick as I was at the time, I might not have been aware of his situation for hours. By the time I got up, it might have been too late.

I’m sure that skeptics could offer any number of alternative explanations for the examples I’ve provided here. It would be impossible to objectively prove that God did, or did not, intervene in these circumstances, and so I do not pretend to offer them as definitive proofs. I offer them merely as circumstances consistent with biblical examples of divine interventions, and I think even skeptics would have to agree that God, if he does exist, must surely be capable of such things. We may quibble over why God chose to intervene in these situations and not in others, but that takes us back to the issue of divine knowledge and motivations. Without knowing what God knows, how can we stand in judgment over him in regard to what he should, or should not, have done in given situation?

The point is this: as a race, we are seeking just about everything but God, when he has promised that it is those who seek him with all of their hearts who will find him.

If we live as though there is no God, is that his fault or ours?

---

[1] http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/jan/HQ_05011_earthquake.html

[2] http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2004/us2004slav/#summary

[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/11/science/deadly-and-yet-necessary-quakes-renew-the-planet.html?_r=0

[4] http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/01-gen-nets.pdf

[5] This implies that the garden would have fallen into disrepair if Adam had not tended it. It would not have supernaturally maintained itself. The laws of thermodynamics and the weathering influences of the outside world would have worn it down in time. This is more evidence that the whole Earth was not a vast paradise at the time.

[6] Undoubtedly, one reason for this was to give sinful man something with which to occupy his time. One can readily imagine how much worse the world would be today if man came by his food and shelter easily, leaving him plenty of time and energy for mischief.

[7] Genesis 2:1 indicates that the heavens and the Earth were “finished,” and that God rested from his acts of creation, so it seems likely that all types of plant life already existed prior to the fall. Furthermore, God did not say that he was going to create new organisms; he merely said that the ground would produce thorns and thistles, where it had readily produced fruit-bearing plants before (in the garden, that is). The idea that this is some sort of new creative act is an assumption based on the idea that thorns and thistles should not be present in a “good” creation. It is not supported by the text.

[8] One evident example of this is the fertilization of soil. Topsoil – the layer of earth in which plants first take root and derive their initial nourishment – is composed in large part of decayed organisms and plant matter.

[9] Isaiah 29:13; Malachi 1:10; Matthew 15:7-9; Matthew 23:1-34; John 4:19-24

[10] Compare this with Numbers 22:22-35 and II Kings 6:8-19.

*Image credit: Seymour Texas tornado, April 10, 1979. Courtesy of the National Severe Storms Laboratory (public domain image). http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/torscans.htm

Broken and Poured Out, but not Wasted

"And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, 'Why was this fragrant oil wasted?'" - Mark 14:3

"Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” - John 12:3-4

Do you wonder where your gifts lie? Where it is that God's "anointing" rests upon you? Then I would ask you: "Where have you been broken?" The alabaster flask that Mary brought to the Lord contained something very precious; indeed, a "costly" oil, the scriptures say; and as John tells us, everyone in the house was blessed with the fragrance of that oil. But the blessing did not come until the flask was broken and the oil was poured out. 

Where have you been broken? Where have you been wounded? Where are you being poured out? Some would say that your brokenness represents a waste, a waste of years, a waste of talent, a waste of life, a waste of what might have been used for other things: things more appropriate in the sight of men. It's more than likely that you feel this way yourself, when you look back on the years of your life. Your brokenness has cost you much, more than anyone other than the Lord Himself can understand. But it is in that very brokenness that the oil - that which has cost you so much - is poured forth, and all around you may be blessed by its fragrance. 

How long did Jesus carry the scent of the oil that Mary poured out on Him? The fragrance that filled the air in Simon's house ("Simon the leper," mind you; one who was known for a dreaded disease) must have lingered on Jesus for quite some time afterward. Anyone near Him would have smelled it. He carried with Him something beautiful: a fragrance that would have blessed anyone around Him and drawn their attention to Him.

Whatever has broken you, whatever regrets and shames you may carry, however much they may have cost you, and however the voices around you may accuse you of waste, all of this is a precious oil, which, when poured out from you, anoints the Savior's head and feet, blessing the world as it draws all to Him. It perfumes the air, calling the wounded, the hurting, the dying, to the one who gives rest, and upon whom nothing that is poured out is ever wasted, no matter what men in their pretended wisdom may think.

- picture credit, unknown
- scriptures taken from the New King James Version

William Tyndale on the Trials of the Christian Life

While many Christian teachers today contend that anyone who isn't rich or enjoying a life of ease is not in the will of God, the Bible is clear that the true Christian life and walk is one of difficulty: "In the world you will have tribulation," Jesus said. Not may have, but will have. The apostles and prophets were persecuted terribly. The history of the early church reads like a continuous bloodbath. Some of the greats of the faith, men like John Bunyan, suffered with continual doubts and were subject to periods of deep depression. To follow Christ is to "take up one's cross," and the way of the cross is a way of pain, requiring patient endurance and continual reliance on the Word and Spirit of God. Not only will the world hate and persecute those who name the Name of Christ, but God Himself is ever at work in our lives, chipping away at the rough edges, molding us into what He wants us to be, and this is also often painful.

The following are thoughts on the matter of tribulation in the Christian life, courtesy of William Tyndale, who certainly qualifies as an expert on the subject. It's an excerpt from the introduction to Tyndale's work, The Obedience of the Christian Man, written in 1528. I think it will prove helpful to many who are interested in a deeper relationship with God, particularly as the days darken before Christ's return. The full text of Tyndale's Obedience of the Christian Man" can be found at: http://www.godrules.net/library/tyndale/19tyndale7.htm

***

WILLIAM TYNDALE, OTHERWISE CALLED HITCHINS, TO THE READER.

GRACE, peace, and increase of knowledge in our Lord Jesus Christ, be with thee, reader, and with all that call on the name of the Lord unfeignedly and with a pure conscience. Amen.

Let it not make thee despair, neither yet discourage thee, O reader, that it is forbidden thee in pain of life and goods, or that it is made breaking of the king’s peace, or treason unto his highness, to read the word of thy soul’s health. But much rather be bold in the Lord, and comfort thy soul: forasmuch as thou art sure, and hast an evident token through such persecution, that it is the true word of God; which word is ever hated of the world, neither was ever without persecution, (as thou seest in all the stories of the Bible, both of the new Testament and also of the old,) neither can be, no more than the sun can be without his light; and forasmuch as contrariwise thou art sure that the pope’s doctrine is not of God, which (as thou seest) is so agreeable unto the world, and is so received of the world; or which rather so receiveth the world and the pleasures of the world, and seeketh nothing but the possessions of the world, and authority in the world, and to bear a rule in the world; and persecuteth the word of God, and with all wiliness driveth people from it, and with false and sophistical reasons maketh them afraid of it; yea, curseth them, and excommunicateth them, and bringeth them in belief that they be damned if they look on it, and that it is but doctrine to deceive men; and moveth the blind powers of the world to slay with fire, water, and sword, all that cleave unto it: for the world loveth that which is his, and hateth that which is chosen out of the world to serve God in the Spirit, as Christ saith to his disciples, John “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but I have chosen you out of the world, and therefore the world hateth you.”

Another comfort hast thou, that, as the weak powers of the world defend the doctrine of the world, so the mighty power of God defendeth the doctrine of God: which thing thou shalt evidently perceive, if thou call to mind the wonderful deeds which God hath ever wrought for his word in extreme necessity, since the world began, beyond all man’s reason, which are written, (as Paul saith, Romans 15) “for our learning, (and not for our deceiving,) that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might have hope.” The nature of God’s word is to fight against hypocrites.

It began at Abel, and hath ever since continued, and shall, I doubt not, until the last day. And the hypocrites have alway the world on their sides; as thou seest in the time of Christ. They had the elders, that is to wit, the rulers of the Jews on their side; they had Pilate and the emperor’s power on their side; they had Herod also on their side: moreover they brought all their worldly wisdom to pass, and all that they could think, or imagine, to serve for their purpose. First, to fear the people withal, they excommunicated all that believed in him, and put them out of the temple; as thou seest, John 9. Secondly, they found the means to have him condemned by the emperor’s power, and made it treason to Caesar to believe in him. Thirdly, they obtained to have him hanged as a thief or a murderer, which, after their belly-wisdom, was a cause above all causes that no man should believe in him: for the Jews take it for a sure token of everlasting damnation, if a man be hanged; for it is written in their law, Deuteronomy 21 “Cursed is whosoever hangeth on tree.” Moses also in the same place commandeth, if any man be hanged, to take him down the same day and bury him, for fear of polluting or defiling the country; that is, lest they should bring the wrath and curse of God upon them. And therefore the wicked Jews themselves, which with so venomous hate persecuted the doctrine of Christ, and did all the shame that they could do unto him, though they would fain have had Christ to hang still on the cross, and there to rot, (as he should have done by the emperor’s law,) yet for fear of defiling their sabbath, and of bringing the wrath and curse of God upon them, begged of Pilate to take him down, John 19 which was against themselves.

Finally, when they had done all they could, and that they thought sufficient, and when Christ was in the heart of the earth, and so many bills and poleaxes about him to keep him down, and when it was past man’s help, then holp God. When man could not bring him again, God’s truth fetched him again. The oath that God had sworn to Abraham, to David, and to other holy fathers and prophets, raised him up again, to bless and save all that believe in him. Thus became the wisdom of the hypocrites foolishness. Lo, this was written for thy learning and comfort.

How wonderfully were the children of Israel locked in Egypt! In what tribulation, cumbrance, and adversity were they in! The land also that was promised them was far off, and full of great cities, walled with high walls up to the sky, and inhabited with great giants; yet God’s truth brought them out of Egypt, and planted them in the land of the giants. This was also written for our learning: for there is no power against God’s, neither any wisdom against God’s wisdom: he is stronger and wiser than all his enemies. What holp it Pharaoh, to drown the men children? So little (I fear not) shall it at the last help the pope and his bishops, to burn our men children; which manfully confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, and that there is no other name given unto men to be saved by, as Peter testifieth, Acts, in the fourth chapter.

Who dried up the Red sea? Who slew Goliath? Who did all those wonderful deeds which thou readest in the bible? Who delivered the Israelites evermore from thraldom and bondage, as soon as they repented and turned to God? Faith verily, and God’s truth, and the trust in the promises which he had made. Read the 11th to the Hebrews for thy consolation.

When the children of Israel were ready to despair, for the greatness and the multitude of the giants, Moses comforted them ever, saying, Remember what your Lord God hath done for you in Egypt, his wonderful plagues, his miracles, his wonders, his mighty hand, his stretched out arm, and what he hath done for you hitherto. He shall destroy them; he shall take their hearts from them, and make them fear and flee before you. He shall storm them, and stir up a tempest among them, and scatter them, and bring them to nought. He hath sworn; he is true; he will fulfill the promises that he hath made unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is written for our learning: for verily he is a true God; and is our God as well as theirs; and his promises are with us, as well as with them; and he present with us, as well as he was with them. If we ask, we shall obtain; if we knock, he will open; if we seek, we shall find; if we thirst, his truth shall fulfill our lust.

Christ is with us until the world’s end. Let his little flock be bold therefore.

For if God be on our side, what matter maketh it who be against us, be they bishops, cardinals, popes, or whatsoever names they will?

Mark this also, if God send thee to the sea, and promise to go with thee, and to bring thee safe to land, he will raise up a tempest against thee, to prove whether thou wilt abide by his word, and that thou mayest feel thy faith, and perceive his goodness. For if it were always fair weather, and thou never brought into such jeopardy, whence his mercy only delivered thee, thy faith should be but a presumption, and thou shouldest be ever unthankful to God and merciless unto thy neighbor.

If God promise riches, the way thereto is poverty. Whom he loveth, him he chasteneth: whom he exalteth, he casteth, down: whom he saveth, he damneth first. He bringeth no man to heaven, except he send him to hell first. If he promise life, he slayeth first: when he buildeth, he casteth all down first. He is no patcher; he cannot build on another man’s foundation.

He will not work until all be past remedy, and brought unto such a case, that men may see, how that his hand, his power, his mercy, his goodness and truth, hath wrought altogether. He will let no man be partaker with him of his praise and glory. His works are wonderful, and contrary unto man’s works. Who ever, saving he, delivered his own Son, his only Son, his dear Son, unto the death, and that for his enemies’ sake, to win his enemy, to overcome him with love, that he might see love, and love again, and of love to do likewise to other men, and to overcome them with well doing?

Joseph saw the sun and the moon and the eleven stars worshipping him. :Nevertheless, ere that came to pass, God laid him where he could neither see sun nor moon, neither any star of the sky, and that many years; and also undeserved; to nurture him, to humble, to meek, and to teach him God’s ways, and to make him apt and meet for the room and honor against he came to it; that he might perceive and feel that it came of God, and that he might be strong in the spirit to minister it godly.

He promised the children of Israel a land with rivers of milk and honey; but brought them for the space of forty years into a land, where not only rivers of milk and honey were not, but where so much as a drop of water was not; to nurture them, and to teach them, as a father doth his son, and to do them good at the latter end; and that they might be strong in their spirit and souls, to use his gifts and benefits godly and after his will.

He promised David a kingdom, and immediately stirred up king Saul against him to persecute him; to hunt him, as men do hares with greyhounds, and to ferret him out of every hole, and that for the space of many years; to tame him, to meek him, to kill his lusts; to make him feel other men’s diseases; to make him merciful; to make him understand that he was made king to minister and to score his brethren, and that he should not think that his subjects were made to minister unto his lusts, and that it were lawful for him to take away from them life and goods at his pleasure.

Oh that our kings were so nurtured now-a-days! Which our holy bishops teach of a far other manner, saying, Your grace shall take your pleasure; yea, take what pleasure you list, spare nothing; we shall dispense with you; we have power, we are God’s vicars: and let us alone with the realm, we shall take pain for you, and see that nothing be well: your grace shall but defend the faith only.

Let us, therefore, look diligently whereunto we are called, that we deceive not ourselves. We are called, not to dispute, as the pope’s disciples do; but to die with Christ, that we may live with him; and to suffer with him, that we may reign with him. We be called unto a kingdom that must be won with suffering only, as a sick man winneth health. God, is he that doth all things for us, and fighteth for us; and we do but suffer only. Christ saith, “As my Father sent me, so send I you;” John and, “If they persecute me, then shall they persecute you.” ( John 15) And Christ saith, “I send you forth as sheep among wolves.” ( Matthew 10) The sheep fight not; but the shepherd fighteth for them, and careth for them. “Be harmless as doves, therefore,” saith Christ, “and wise as serpents.” The doves imagine no defense, nor seek to avenge themselves.

The serpent’s wisdom is, to keep his head, and those parts wherein his life resteth. Christ is our head; and God’s word is that wherein our life resteth.

To cleave, therefore, fast unto Christ, and unto those promises which God hath made us for his sake, is our wisdom. “Beware of men,” saith he; “for they shall deliver you up unto their councils, and shall scourge you; and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake. The brother shall betray, or deliver, the brother to death, and the father the son; and the children shall rise against father and mother, and put them to death.” Hear what Christ saith more: “The disciple is not greater than his master; neither the servant greater, or better, than his lord. If they have called the good man of the house Beelzebub, how much rather shall they call his household servants so!” And, Luke 14 saith Christ: “Which of you, disposed to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to perform it? Lest when he hath laid the foundation, and then not able to perform it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to make an end: so likewise none of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, can be my disciple.” Whosoever, therefore, casteth not this aforehand, ‘I must jeopard life, goods, honor, worship, and all that there is, for Christ’s sake,’ deceiveth himself, and maketh a mock of himself unto the godless hypocrites and infidels. “No man can serve two masters, God and mammon;” that is to say, wicked riches also. Matthew 6. Thou must love Christ above all things: but that doest thou not, if thou be not ready to forsake all for his sake: if thou have forsaken all for his sake, then art thou sure that thou lovest him.

Tribulation is our right baptism; and is signified by plunging into the water. “We that are baptized in the name of Christ,” saith Paul, “are baptized to die with him.”

The Spirit through tribulation purgeth us, and killeth our fleshly wit, our worldly understanding, and belly-wisdom, and filleth us full of the wisdom of God. Tribulation is a blessing that cometh of God, as witnesseth Christ: “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Is not this a comfortable word? Who ought not rather to choose, and desire to be blessed with Christ, in a little tribulation, than to be cursed perpetually with the world for a little pleasure?

Prosperity is a right curse, and a thing that God giveth to his enemies. “Woe be to you rich,” saith Christ, Luke 6 “lo, ye have your consolation: woe be to you that are full, for ye shall hunger: woe be to you that laugh, for ye shall weep: woe be to you when men praise you, for so did their fathers unto the false prophets:” yea, and so have our fathers done unto the false hypocrites. The hypocrites, with worldly preaching, have not gotten the praise only, but even the possessions also, and the dominion and rule of the whole world.

Tribulation for righteousness is not a blessing only, but also a gift that God giveth unto none save his special friends. The apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for Christ’s sake. And Paul, in the second epistle and third chapter to Timothy, saith, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution:” and, Philippians 1 he saith, “Unto you it is given, not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for his sake.”

Here seest thou that it is God’s gift, to suffer for Christ’s sake. And Peter in the fourth chapter of his first epistle saith: “Happy are ye if ye suffer for the name of Christ; for the glorious Spirit of God resteth in you.” Is it not an happy thing, to be sure that thou art sealed with God’s Spirit to everlasting life? And, verily, thou art sure thereof, if thou suffer patiently for his sake. By suffering art thou sure; but by persecuting canst thou never be sure: for Paul, Romans 5 saith, “Tribulation maketh feeling;” that is, it maketh us feel the goodness of God, and his help, and the working of his Spirit. And, the twelfth chapter of the second epistle to the Corinthians , the Lord said unto Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect through weakness.” Lo, Christ is never strong in us till we be weak. As our strength abateth, so groweth the strength of Christ in us: when we are clean emptied of our own strength, then are we full of Christ’s strength: and look, how much of our own strength remaineth in us, so much lacketh there of the strength of Christ. “Therefore,” saith Paul, in the said place in the second epistle to the Corinthians, “very gladly will I rejoice in my weakness, that the strength of Christ may dwell in me.

Therefore have I delectation,” saith Paul, “in infirmities, in rebukes, in need, in persecutions, and in anguish for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Meaning, that the weakness of the flesh is the strength of the Spirit. And by flesh understand wit, wisdom, and all that is in a man before the Spirit of God come; and whatsoever springeth not of the Spirit of God, and of God’s word. And of like testimonies is all the scripture full.

Behold, God setteth before us a blessing and also a curse: a blessing, verily, and that a glorious and an everlasting, if we suffer tribulation and adversity with our Lord and Savior Christ; and an everlasting curse, if, for a little pleasure sake, we withdraw ourselves from the chastising and nurture of God, wherewith he teacheth all his sons, and fashioneth them after his godly will, and maketh them perfect (as he did Christ), and maketh them apt and meet vessels to receive his grace and his Spirit, that they might perceive and feel the exceeding mercy which we have in Christ, and the innumerable blessings and the unspeakable inheritance, whereto we are called and chosen, and sealed in our Savior Jesus Christ, unto whom be praise for ever. Amen.

Finally: whom God chooseth to reign everlastingly with Christ, him sealeth he with his mighty Spirit, and poureth strength into his heart, to suffer afflictions also with Christ for bearing witness unto the truth. And this is the difference between the children of God and of salvation, and between the children of the devil and of damnation: that the children of God have power in their hearts to suffer for God’s word; which is their life and salvation, their hope and trust, and whereby they live in the soul and spirit before God. And the children of the devil in time of adversity fly from Christ, whom they followed feignedly, their hearts not sealed with his holy and mighty Spirit; and get them to the standard of their right father the devil, and take his wages, the pleasures of this world, which are the earnest of everlasting damnation: which conclusion the twelfth chapter to the Hebrews well confirmeth, saying, “My son, despise not thou the chastising of the Lord, neither faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth, him he chastiseth; yea, and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Lo, persecution and adversity for the truth’s sake is God’s scourge, and God’s rod, and pertaineth unto all his children indifferently: for when he said, he scourgeth every son, he maketh none exception.

Moreover saith the text: “If ye shall endure chastising, God offereth himself unto you as unto sons. What son is it that the Father chastiseth not? If ye be not under correction, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”

Forasmuch, then, as we must needs be baptized in tribulations, and through the Red sea, and a great and a fearful wilderness, and a land of cruel giants, into our natural country; yea, and inasmuch as it is a plain earnest that there is no other way into the kingdom of life than through persecution, and suffering of pain, and of very death, after the ensample of Christ; therefore let us arm our souls with the comfort of the scriptures: how that God is ever ready at hand, in time of need, to help us; and how that such tyrants and persecutors are but God’s scourge, and his rod to chastise us.

And as the father hath alway, in time of correction, the rod fast in his hand, so that the rod doth nothing but as the father moveth it; even so hath God all tyrants in his hand, and letteth them not do whatsoever they would, but as much only as he appointeth them to do, and as far forth as it is necessary for us. And as, when the child submitteth himself unto his father’s correction and nurture, and humbleth himself altogether unto the will of his father, then the rod is taken away; even so, when we are come unto the knowledge of the right way, and have forsaken our own will, and offer ourselves clean unto the will of God, to walk which way soever he will have us, then turneth he the tyrants; or else, if they enforce to persecute us any further, he putteth them out of the way, according unto the comfortable ensamples of the scripture.

Moreover, let us arm our souls with the promises both of help and assistance, and also of the glorious reward that followeth. “Great is your reward in heaven,” saith Christ, Matthew 5; and, “He that knowledgeth me before men, him will I knowledge before my Father that is in heaven;” and, “Call on me in time of tribulation, and I will deliver thee,” Psalm 50; and, “Behold the eyes of the Lord are over them, that fear him, and over them that trust in his mercy, to deliver their souls from death, and to feed them in time of hunger.” Psalm 33. And in Psalm 34 saith David: “The Lord is nigh them that are troubled in their hearts, and the meek in spirit will he save. The tribulations of the righteous are many, and out of them all will the Lord deliver them. The Lord keepeth all the bones of them, so that not one of them shall be bruised. The Lord shall redeem the souls of his servants.” And of such like consolation are all the psalms full. Would to God when ye read them ye understood them! And, Matthew 10 “When they deliver you, take no thought what ye shall say; it shall be given you the same hour what ye shall say: for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” “The very hairs of your head are numbered,” saith Christ also, Matthew 10. If God care for our hairs, he much more careth for our souls, which he hath sealed with his holy Spirit. Therefore saith Peter, “Cast all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” ( 1 Peter 5) And Paul, 1 Corinthians 10 saith: “God is true, he will not suffer you to be tempted above your might.”

And Psalm 55 “Cast thy care upon the Lord.”

Let thy care be to prepare thyself with all thy strength, for to walk which way he will have thee; and to believe that he will go with thee, and assist thee, and strengthen thee against all tyrants, and deliver thee out of all tribulation. But what way, or by what means he will do it, that commit unto him and his godly pleasure and wisdom, and cast that care upon him.

And though it seem never so unlikely, or never so impossible unto natural reason, yet believe stedfastly that he will do it: and then shall he (according to his old use) change the course of the world, even in the twinkling of an eye, and come suddenly upon our giants, as a thief in the night, and compass them in their wiles and worldly wisdom. “When they cry, Peace and all is safe, then shall their sorrows begin, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth with child:” and then shall he destroy them, and deliver thee, unto the glorious praise of his mercy and truth. Amen.

And as pertaining unto them that despise God’s word, counting it as a fantasy or a dream; and to them also that for fear of a little persecution fall from it, set this before thine eyes; how God, since the beginning of the world, before a general plague, ever sent his true prophets and preachers of his word, to warn the people, and gave them time to repent. But they, for the greatest part of them, hardened their hearts, and persecuted the word that was sent to save them. And then God destroyed them utterly, and took them clean from the earth. As thou seest what followed the preaching of Noe in the old world; what followed the preaching of Lot among the Sodomites; and the preaching of Moses and Aaron among the Egyptians; and that suddenly, against all possibility of man’s wit.

Moreover, as oft as the children of Israel fell from God to the worshipping of images, he sent his prophets unto them; and they persecuted and waxed hard-hearted: and then he sent them into all places of the world captive.

Last of all, he sent his own Son to them, and they waxed more hardhearted than ever before: and see what a fearful example of his wrath and cruel vengeance he hath made of them to all the world, now almost fifteen hundred years.

Unto the old Britons also (which dwelled where our nation doth now) preached Gildas; and rebuked them of their wickedness, and prophesied both to the spiritual (as they will be called) and unto the lay-men also, what vengeance would follow, except they repented. But they waxed hardhearted; and God sent his plagues and pestilences among them, and sent their enemies in upon them on every side, and destroyed them utterly.

Mark also, how Christ threateneth them that forsake him, for whatsoever cause it be; whether for fear, either for shame, either for loss of honor, friends, life, or goods. “He that denieth me before men, him will I deny before my Father that is in heaven. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me.” All this he saith Matthew 10. And in Mark 8 he saith: “Whosoever is ashamed of me, or my words, among this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with his holy angels.”

And Luke 9 also: “None that layeth his hand to the plough, and looketh back, is meet for the kingdom of heaven.”

Nevertheless yet, if any man have resisted ignorantly, as Paul did, let him look on the truth which Paul wrote after he came to knowledge. Also, if any man clean against his heart (but overcome with the weakness of the flesh), for fear of persecution, have denied, as Peter did, or have delivered his book, or put it away secretly; let him (if he repent,) come again, and take better hold, and not despair, or take it for a sign that God hath forsaken him. For God ofttimes taketh his strength even from his very elect, when they either trust in their own strength, or are negligent to call to him for his strength. And that doth he to teach them, and to make them feel, that in that fire of tribulation, for his word’s sake, nothing can endure and abide save his work, and that strength only which he hath promised. For the which strength he will have us to pray unto him night and day, with all instance.